A diversion -- your favourite CI and strategy quotes

[Alli Marshall]

A diversion to start the work week -- what are your favourite CI/strategy quotes?

"Skate to where the puck's going, not where it's been."
Walter Gretzky (Wayne's father)

"Fools rush in..."
Alexander Pope

"Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated."
Sun Tzu

...?

[Seena Sharp]

Hi Alli,

The Sun Tzu quote you noted is frequently used at SCIP conferences. This quote applies to war, not business, because war is a zero sum game and business is not.

Sun Tzu had another quote that is more applicable to business and CI, which I have not heard at SCIP:

“It is best to keep one’s own state intact; to crush the enemy’s state is only second best.”

In my upcoming book - woo hoo!! - Competitive Intelligence Advantage (Wiley, Oct 2009), I expand on this by stating that "As it relates to business, a company’s primary goal is to have a profitable, viable, and growing business. Competitors that are diminished because of your good decisions and cleverness...."

In short, the better goal is to make your business successful rather than to focus on driving competitors out of business.

[Alli Marshall]

Hi Seena,
Great to hear from you and congrats on your upcoming publishing date! Do you have any plans to visit Canada or the northern U.S. as part of your book promotion efforts?

Thanks to you and all the other contributors for sharing the excellent quotes -- I love reading them and look forward to many more!
Alli

[V Narasimha Reddy]

“Tell me, I forget, show me, I remember, Involve me, I understand.”

Carl Orff


”A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.”

Albert Einstein

[Vivek Raghuvanshi]

War Gaming Worst Case Scenario with Psychic Abilities = Competitive Intelligence 

NEXT - Nicolas Cage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNgHOGKzLWs

Sherlock Holmes 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHBHMtl9YWw&ob=av3e

[Vivek Raghuvanshi]

War Gaming Worst Case Scenario = OODA Loop = Competitive Intelligence

[Vivek Raghuvanshi]

War Gaming Worst Case Scenario with Strategic Assumptions + Tactical Indicators and filling Knowledge Gaps with Insight = Competitive Intelligence